


Guess Monster

by Yamaguchi_Stardust (orphan_account)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Hanahaki Disease, I'll add more tags as i go, I'm changing it up a little, Sort Of, you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 08:11:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15926399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Yamaguchi_Stardust
Summary: Tendou Satori has always loved things with all he has in him; he can't fake his feelings or go part of the way in - it's all or nothing. It's sort of like how he plays volleyball, always jumping for the ball or the block with all that he has in him. But for Tendou, perhaps passionately loving volleyball and people will be his downfall, as the second he tries out for junior high volleyball his past creeps back in and his heart is crushed. Will Tendou be able to find someone (or a team) who will love him back unconditionally, or will the petals keep collecting until they end up killing him?





	Guess Monster

There was very little in life that Tendou didn’t find interesting; the world around him worked in a way that he was too young to comprehend, and even though he was at that age where kids no longer looked to stories and fairytales to satisfy their hunger for excitement and wonder, he refused to look out anything other than a rose colored lens. His parents didn’t support his views, but despite their constant nagging for him to grow up, Tendou stayed the same. He still picked dandelions that he found on the side of the recess field, and made wishes on the stars he saw out his window each night - even if he wasn’t supposed to be up that late.

Tendou had a fairly good childhood. His imagination never left him want for entertainment, and his sense of humor carried him through many of the social battles a child must face in their life. So maybe he didn’t have any close friends, or any friends for that matter, and maybe his parents didn’t spend that much time on him, but in the end, Tendou was quite content with his little life. Perhaps as content as a child could be just entering junior high as a first year.

He had been waiting for this moment all year, jumping up and down and babbling to his parents about how cool he was going to be in junior high, and how he was going to make the volleyball team for sure. Both of his parents had brushed the comments off, either choosing to ignore his comments, or remind him that it was more important for him to get a good education, and that he ought to be more mature so as to impress his teachers. Tendou didn’t like getting talked down too, but he almost preferred that over his parents ignoring him altogether. It showed that they were at least listening to him, and if they were listening, that meant that they cared...right?

When the first day of school came, neither parent could curb his excitement. Even the bran muffins his parents had chosen over the chocolate chip ones couldn’t affect his mood, and as he munched he thought happily about what the first day would be like, and what his muffin would taste like if it had had some chocolate chips or maybe just an ounce of actual flavor. 

“Alright, I’m off!” he shouted to his parents before grabbing his lunch sack and running towards the door. His mom yelled back at him to tie his shoes before he fell and scraped his knees, but Tendou was already out the door. He laughed and took in the crisp April air before hopping on his bike and hyperly pedaling all the way to school. In his excitement he forgot to grab his helmet, so the air whipped his already wild hair about - he had taken to spiking it up now to look more “cool” - but he didn’t mind a bit. It was refreshing, and only added to the excitement of the day.

His classes went by quickly, and he smiled in each class, even the boring ones. After all, if his teacher had to be stuck teaching such a boring subject, he ought to at least try and brighten the atmosphere. So when it came time for volleyball tryouts, Tendou was the absolute happiest person in the building, guaranteed. He felt like he was walking on top of the world, and nothing could bring him down. Just wait until those other kids got a look at him spiking the ball down onto the court, or blocking their spikes one by one. He would no longer have to be looked down on and teased for being a “monster”, like the elementary school kids had once done to try and poke fun at his name and bring him down. If he was to be a monster in any way, shape, or form, he wanted it to be on the court. Be friendly always, but show no mercy. Smile, but with teeth bared. Never let anyone look down on you, but smile with satisfaction when you block their spike and see the desperation in their eyes. Those were the three rules Tendou lived out on the court, and the three rules that had gotten him through years of being bullied by peers and adults alike. 

He made friends with everyone on the court fairly quickly, and forgot about half of their names just as fast, so when it came time to play on the court he had pumped himself up enough that he was running and playing to the best of his ability. Everyone got to see the Tendou that loved volleyball. No one got to see Tendou the monster kid that no one liked. Or that’s what he thought.

It was when he had finished taking a shower after practice that he ran into his first encounter with his not-so-nice teammates. Out of the group, he could only recall one of their names.

“So you must be the monster kid, huh?” One of them snickered, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning into one of the lockers. “I’ve heard about you. I’m surprised you even came to tryouts.”

“Yeah, only kids are allowed to try out, not monsters,” another one sneered, leaning in and poking Tendou in the shoulder. Dripping wet, Tendou tried to brush their comments off with a smile and a shake of his head.

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” he said simply, squeezing past them to get to his locker and a change of clothes. He’d feel a whole lot more confident in something other than a towel. He had to continue to ignore them when he felt them close in, and swallowing whatever pride he had, he played it off as if he didn’t care as he let the towel fall and he put on his clothes.

“Oh, don’t play dumber than you are,” the first kid shot back at him, slamming the locker next to him and chuckling a bit when Tendou started from the sound. “I’ve never seen another person with such a ridiculous head of hair. You ARE the red headed monster freak.” His group of buddies nodded in agreement.

“His eyes look kinda freaky too,” another one of the boys commented, reaching up and nearly poking Tendou in the eye as the boy backed up into the locker, surrounded once more by bullies. “Like they’re sleepy in a stupid looking way, but like he can stare right into your soul too.”

“Maybe he is a monster. Who else smiles so much in class?”

“He looks even lamer with his hair down.”

“Do you think the principal would let us switch classes once he knows we have a monster in ours?”

Poor Tendou endured their constant degrading comments, one right after the other, and he half wished the coach would come in and save him from this situation, even if it would wreck his pride a tiny bit. But at last the boys relented, giving him enough space to shamefully slip past them.

“You know, it doesn’t matter what you say. Call me a monster, but coach saw how good I am at volleyball,” Tendou threw at them sadly, no longer trying to hold himself together. He wanted to land the last blow though, but even that was taken from him.

“It doesn’t matter if coach lets you play or not,” the first boy said with a disgusted look on his face. “You’ll never be part of this team. Volleyball isn’t for monsters.”

~~~

When Tendou got out from practice, he didn’t hop on his bike and let the air rush past him. He didn’t even get on the bike, but dragged it along with him as he walked home, heart and face downcast. When he got home, he gently leaned the bike up against the wall and took his shoes off as he entered, depositing the shoes on the mat and his bag near his bedroom door. Neither of his parents said a word to him, not even asking how his day went, and after several minutes of being ignored, Tendou thought it was for the best. It’s not like they would comfort him for being bullied at volleyball. They would just remind him that volleyball was a waste of time, and how he should be pouring himself into his studies instead so he could get into a good university. But none of that mattered to him; why should it?

He walked into the bathroom and closed the door, staring at the mirror above the sink. Sure enough, the red headed monster had followed him home, even though he had thought he had left it behind on the steps of his old elementary school. He watched as his eyes, no, those sleepy, sardonic eyes shed tears for him. All he had wanted was a second chance; he was so good at volleyball, couldn’t they all see that? Why did they have to try and drag him down? He had done nothing to them but try to be their friend. He wanted to badly to be part of that team, to have a group of friends he could turn to. He just wanted someone to play volleyball with, or go to the shop to get chocolate ice cream with, or someone who liked reading those shonen jump mangas he collected. Just...someone to connect with.

But by no fault of his, he had started his first day and his second chance relieving the painful memories he had tried so hard to push down. He loved volleyball. How could they do this to him?!

He felt his lungs burn as the tears continued to roll, and he thought it was completely normal until his lungs felt like they were also filling up. Tendou panicked and grabbed the edges of the sink as he struggled and failed not to vomit up into it. What came out scared him even more than the initial thought of throwing up. Sliding down the sides of the sink were three small, dark red carnation petals.

Tendou’s heart beat violently inside his chest as he picked the three cursed petals up and placed them in his shaking palm. He had read about the disease before, but wasn’t he too young to have found love? He didn’t even have any friends; how could this be happening to him?!

It would take time for Tendou to learn that the hanahaki disease hurt not only those with unrequited romantic love, but any unrequited love for the matter, and after careful thought and contemplation, Tendou had finally narrowed it down to who - or in this case what - his unrequited love was. Even after having been accepted onto the team, Tendou had shortly found out that he was nothing more than a stranger on the court, hitting the ball every now and then for a team of people who wore the same jerseys and same school name upon them, but who had also alienated him from their numbers. He was both on their team and not. And it was indeed after several practices spent in the bathrooms throwing up carnation petals that Tendou was able to figure out that his unrequited love for volleyball was slowly eating him away, and maybe loving things so deeply and without restraint would end up killing him in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think of this in the comments section ^^


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